A solid creative brief is the foundation of a successful project. It’s an underrated art – a well-constructed brief saves time, increases efficiency and creates a better outcome all round.
Whether you’re planning a rebrand, an event, a product launch or any other creative endeavour, it all starts with a brief – but how do you make sure you’ll get what you need from your agency? We’ve put together our best practice guide to briefing a creative agency.
What is a creative brief?
A creative brief is a short document that outlines the overall strategy of any creative project. No successful project or campaign starts without one – it’s the best way to make sure a creative team is all on the same page. The goal of a creative brief is to help everyone get to grips with the overall project, including the target audience, aims, messages, deliverables, timeline and budget.
The brief is often written by whoever is requesting a project, such as an account manager, but in close collaboration with a creative team.
Why do you need a creative brief?
No matter how straightforward you reckon a project is, there’s still a lot of room for misinterpretation and assumption, which can lead to mistakes and delays. A brief keeps everything moving in the right direction, ensuring everyone is aligned. Think of it as like a recipe – even if you know all of the ingredients, you might be a bit unsure of the steps, so you’ll need something to refer back to. Your creative team will need to be able to interpret your vision, so a clear brief is crucial.
Say you’re planning on getting an exhibition stand for an upcoming trade show – it’s not enough to just let the creative team know you want a stand. They would need to know what kind of stand you had in mind, and what you’re hoping to achieve by being there. Will you be demonstrating products? Will you need enough space to hold meetings? What should the visuals look like? Of course, a good creative team will work alongside you to come up with some exciting ideas, but they need the very basics sorted before the fun bit starts.
What should a creative brief contain?
A solid creative brief sets the tone for a successful project, so to achieve the results you’re aiming for, there are certain non-negotiables to include when briefing a creative agency…
A background of your business
Your agency will need to know more about who you are, and what you stand for. Give them your mission statement and an overview of the products and services that you offer. Include links to your website and examples of marketing collateral so that the creative team can get to grips with your brand’s visual identity – if you have a brand guidelines document to attach, even better.
A summary of the project
In order for the team to understand what deliverables will work best, they will need to be provided with a summary of what you’re looking for. It doesn’t have to be a full plan, but just an outline of the project and what you’re hoping to get out of it.
Your business objectives
Are you trying to make sales? Show off a new product? Raise brand awareness? The goals of your project will shape the creative direction, so make sure you’re aligned on what you’re hoping to achieve.
Your audience
Who is your ideal customer? Which demographic are you primarily trying to reach? Sure, if you’re looking for an exhibition stand then you want something that will draw a crowd, but the kind of stand you’d use to bring in a Gen Z audience is going to look and work quite differently to a stand that’s meant to attract CEOs.
Timeline
If you’ve got a two-week time frame, you’ll be looking at very different expectations than if you had two months! Project timelines are a very important detail, in order to make sure there’s enough time to accomplish what you need, and ideally allow some extra time for unexpected issues that might crop up.
Budget
You might have a firm image in your mind already of what you’re looking for, and want a quote to find out how much it would cost to bring it to life. The problem with that is that it can be a bit of a waste of time for both you and the creative team – if you know you’re on a tight budget, it’s better to let the team know up front so that they can work towards it.
Once you have drafted your creative brief, have a read through to make sure it would be easy to interpret by someone outside your industry. Whilst technical jargon or acronyms might be second nature to you, they might not make as much sense to your agency, so make sure it’s as clear as possible.
If at any point you’re unsure what you need to include to brief your creative agency, don’t be afraid to ask!
Working with a creative team
As well as writing a strong creative brief to kick things off, there are a few key considerations when working alongside a creative agency.
- Ask the right questions to make sure how you work is aligned – ask how they like to communicate, what they need from you, what their process is like as all agencies run differently.
- Be proactive – any new information, inspiration, changes etc, let them know to make sure you’re collaborating efficiently
- Give creative freedom – might take you a bit out of your comfort zone, but remember they are the experts and can help you level up, find innovative new ways to do things. Giving direction is great, as is helping maintain brand consistency, but let them do their own thing.
- Give feedback – establish the feedback process first, like who will need to be feeding back to keep it all consolidated, when feedback needs to be done by.
Finding the right creative partner
If you’re working with the right agency, you should feel confident that your project is in the best hands. They should be taking the lead and getting everything moving, keeping clear communication and letting you know if there are any hiccups along the way.
Human Built is a creative events agency that strives to leave a lasting impression and create events that have impact, working closely with our clients as an extension of their team to ensure that all projects are a success. To find out how we can bring your dream event to life, get in touch.
